Former £23m Everton and Inter Milan midfielder turns down Rangers transfer in attempted free agent effort


Former Everton and Inter Milan midfielder Davy Klassen has reportedly turned down an offer to join Scottish heavyweights Rangers.
The 41-time Dutch international is currently a free agent following an unsuccessful one-year spell at the San Siro which saw him play 18 games across all competitions for the Serie A winners.
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Hide AdKlassen started his career at Ajax and formed a major part of the team which lifted three league titles while also reaching a Europa League final.
The midfielder’s leadership and his impressive ability to score goals made him a marquee £23m signing for Ronald Koeman’s Everton team back in 2017, but he managed just seven league matches and failed to register a goal or an assist for the Toffees before being sold for less than half of that amount to Werder Bremen a year later.
Klassen rebuilt his career with a strong spell in Germany and an equally effective second stint back at Ajax. His experience would have made him a real coup for Phillipe Clement’s team in their hunt for the Scottish Premiership title.
Italian journalist Nicolo Schira confirmed that the Light Blues had been in discussion with Klassen’s representatives in recent weeks, but added that the 31-year-old was only ever interested in returning to Ajax for a third stint in the capital.
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Hide AdClement has not ruled out signing a free agent in the coming week to bolster his team and is believed to see midfield as a priority position after the departure of John Lundstram in the summer.
He told the Scottish Sun earlier this month: “That’s still a possibility, yes.
“We talked about that in the club and that was the initial plan [to bring in a No.6 to replace John Lundstram].
"So we need to now find solutions within the squad to do that, in a different way to before.
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Hide Ad“Connor Barron is filling that role. Dujon Sterling can fill that role. Nico Raskin can fill that role. But it’s in a different way to Lunny.
"We don’t need to play in the same way we did last season.It’s about what suits the qualities of the squad best.
"And we’re going to find solutions for that.”
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